Stephen Colbert Developing ‘Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past’ Movie

Peter Jackson was joined by Stephen Colbert yesterday in an announcement that revealed the development of a Lord of the Rings sequel film, tentatively titled Shadow of the Past. The move came in a 3-minute-long announcement video for J.R.R. Tolkien Reading Day, where Jackson announced updates for Andy Serkis’ The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, which is currently towards the end of its script-writing process.

In the latter half of the video, Jackson was joined in a video call by talk show host Stephen Colbert, who revealed he is developing a sequel film following the ending of The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. The synopsis for the film reads as follows:

Fourteen years after the passing of Frodo – Sam, Merry, and Pippin set out to retrace the first steps of their adventure. Meanwhile, Sam’s daughter, Elanor, has discovered a long-buried secret and is determined to uncover why the War of the Ring was very nearly lost before it even began.

The synopsis here refers to the passing of Frodo, which actually refers to Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) leaving Middle-earth at the end of Return of the King with Bilbo (Ian Holm), Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and the Elves as they cross the sea to the Undying Lands. Following this, the film will see Sam (Sean Astin), Merry (Dominic Monaghan), and Pippin (Billy Boyd) setting out to retrace the first steps of their adventure (leaving The Shire for Bree and subsequently Rivendell). Sam’s daughter discovers a long-buried secret and tries to learn why the War of the Ring was lost before it truly began. Colbert expanded on this in his video, stating that he will be adapting six chapters from the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring that weren’t adapted in Peter Jackson’s trilogy, even in the extended trilogy.

These six chapters show the early journey of the Hobbits journeying to Bree, where they begin walking through The Old Forest, an ancient and mystical forest on the Eastern border of The Shire. In this forest, they encounter Tom Bombadil, a legendary creature who is almost fairy tale-like in his kindness. That’s only part of the story as they encounter the vicious Wights and fall into one of their Barrows before ultimately being saved by Bombadil. This all takes place around that iconic scene in Fellowship of the Ring where the Hobbits are forced to hide from the Black Riders.

Tom Bombadil first appeared in live-action in The Rings of Power Season 2 on Prime Video, played by Rory Kinnear. It is unknown whether he will reprise his role here to confirm canonicity between the two separate studio-driven formats.

Colbert will be developing this film with his son Peter McGee, as well as co-writer Phillipa Boyens, who is a veteran in the franchise. Colbert is known as a huge fan of the franchise despite his comic career. He previously starred as a spy in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

The film is currently expected to star Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins, Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee, Dominic Monaghan as Merry Brandybuck, and Billy Boyd as Pippin Took.

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